Co-authored by Natalya S. Zelensky

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking public comment on the feasibility, benefits and costs of two short selling disclosure regimes as a part of a study mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 417 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires the SEC to conduct studies of the feasibility, benefits and costs of (1) requiring reporting in real time, publicly or, in the alternative, only to the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, short sales positions in publicly listed securities, and (2) conducting a voluntary pilot program in which public companies could agree to have sales of their shares marked "long," "short," or "market maker short," and purchases of their shares marked "buy" or "buy-to-cover," and reported as such in real time through the Consolidated Tape. The SEC must submit a report on the results of these studies to Congress no later than July 21. Comments are due on or before 45 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Click here to read SEC Release No. 34-64383.